Problem: Ben earns a base salary of $100.00 every week with an additional 15% commission on everything he sells. If Ben sold $6050.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $15\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{15}{100}$ which is also equal to $15 \div 100$ $15 \div 100 = 0.15$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.15$ $\times$ $$6050.00$ $=$ $$907.50$ We can find the total salary for Ben by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$907.50$ $+$ $$100.00$ $=$ $$1007.50$ The total salary Ben made last week was $$1007.50$.